Find Funding and Support

Academic Endowment Engagement Grants

Academic Outreach Endowment (AOE) Grants support community-connected teaching, learning, and research across all disciplines and are administered by the Center for Community Engagement.

AOE grants support projects with community collaborations that: 

1. Develop students’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions for informed engagement in civic life & positive social change, and
2. Contribute to building the capacity of community members and institutions to achieve a public purpose.

Learn more about our AOE grants and how to apply.

Project Assistant Program

We train Project Assistants (PAs) to support faculty members incorporating community-connected work in their courses. PAs provide instructional and logistical support for students executing community-based projects. 

The positive learning potentials of community-connected project-based learning (CCPBL) require highly collaborative leadership by those in instructional roles, reflective processes for students that allow for meaning-making and connections to other learning experiences and knowledge of social structures, and the support of students’ development of civic leadership skills. Community-connected project-based learning requires additional support for community partnership relationships and logistics, in addition to an awareness of best practices for working with diverse others. 

Learn more about our Project Assistant program and how to apply for a PA.

Middlebury Liberal Arts in Action Resource Hub 

Explore our Resource Hub on the Middlebury Liberal Arts in Action (MLAA) platform to learn more about incorporating community connections into your coursework or research.

Research and Best Practices

We support faculty by connecting them with resources and support to offer community-connected curricular courses and projects grounded in best practices of community-connected learning.

In addition to connecting with one of our CCE staff members for consultation and support, we invite faculty to ground their community-connected courses and research in the best practices of the field.

Classroom Implementation

• Explore over 200 sample syllabi assembled by Campus Compact, searchable by discipline, type of instruction, institution type, service type, and issue area.
• Review creative ideas from the University of Nebraska, Omaha that lists 101 ideas for integrating service and learning, categorized by discipline.
• Learn more about implementing civic learning in the classroom with resources from the American Association of Colleges & Universities.

Research

• The Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning is a national, peer-reviewed journal focusing on research-driven articles about community-based research and teaching.
• Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement is a national, peer-reviewed journal that includes research articles, reflective essays, and discussions of projects in progress.
• ​Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship is a national, peer-reviewed journal that offers essays devoted to field notes, community perspectives, and student voices as well as traditional research articles.
• National Service-Learning Cooperative Clearinghouse is a large, searchable database of publications.

Learning Communities

• The Engagement Scholarship Consortium is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization composed of higher education member institutions focused on building strong university-community partnerships anchored in the rigor of scholarship and designed to help build community capacity.
• Community-Based Global Learning Collaborative is a network of educational institutions and community organizations that advances community-based global learning and research for more just, inclusive, and sustainable communities.
• Bringing Theory to Practice is a national community of educators committed to advancing the core purposes of college through transformative change and institutional collaboration.